365 Inspirations—337: My Students

"There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."—Nelson Mandela

 I'm an author, but I'm also an ESL teacher at a local community college. Writing and teaching are two of my passions, but it's not the act of teaching or writing that brings me the most joy, it's what I'm able to convey through these mediums. I feel so happy and fulfilled when I see others find purpose, peace and joy in their lives—when they discover something about themselves or learn something they may have initially thought was difficult or impossible. I think it's the breakthroughs and the 'ah-ha' moments I witness in others that bring me a sense of fulfillment and bring me closer to my own discoveries. We are all learning and growing here, and sharing that process with others helps my own process of growth.

I've very impressed with my students this quarter, particularly my small business ownership class. I volunteered to teach it without knowing too much about what the class entailed. My husband has owned several small businesses, so I wasn't completely out of my league.

Still, I made sure I lined up plenty of guest speakers to cover the things that I did not know. I'm not fond of accounting, so I just touched on the materials that dealt with numbers. Afterall, it's an ESL class  and I am an ESL teacher, not an accountant.

So I decided to focus on the language aspect of business. I focused on the business proposal minus the spread sheets. We studied vocabulary related to small businesses and each student came up with their own business proposal which included a business name, tag line or jingle, owner's qualifications, five-year plan, etc.

Today they gave presentations and shared with the class their ideas. I was so impressed by these. Some of these presentations were reminiscent of Steve Job's new product presentations for Apple. These students have mastered the Power Point presentation. Here are some of them:

I'm sure the investors on Shark Tank would have invested in many of their ideas because they all sold me on what they had to offer.

Even though I volunteered to teach this class, I thought that I may not like it that much. Business can be so dry, but this class was completely creative. The students selected business ideas that they were PASSIONATE about and this made for a very exciting, energetic, FUN class and we also got to learn along the way.

I realized that if I allow students to choose and be part of the learning process, they learn so much more. It's fun for me, for them and for everyone.

I'm fairly positive that many of them will start many of these businesses they proposed. It's just an ESL class, but I know some of them will go on to take business classes or accounting classes. They will study nutrition, photography, architecture or any other classes they need to make their dreams come true.

I had one student who had absolutely no idea what her passion was. She spent the first couple weeks wondering if she'd ever find a business idea. Somehow, along the way, she discovered it and gave one of the BEST presentations I've ever seen and with so much enthusiasm. It made me happy to be part of this process of discovery.

I'm happy that I got to be part of seeing all of my students' passions and ideas come alive. It makes my job so worthwhile.

Have you ever done or taught something that seemed out of your league, only to discover that it was right up your alley?

365 Inspirations—226: Free Your Inner Child

"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."—Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, 1943 
  Another post from my 365 Lessons from 2010. I like this one a lot. Here it is:

Floating, swimming, frolicking in the woods, eating cupcakes with stars on them, swinging on the swings even though there are only children on the swings with their mothers or fathers pushing them. What made us become serious adults who say, "Oh, I'm too old for that." Is there an age limit to floating, swimming, frolicking in the woods, eating cupcakes or swinging on swings? When given the chance, I don't hesitate to do any of these.

When you let your inner child out, the one inside you that liked to play and was always game for anything new, you free yourself. The picture of me on the swings was at my best friend's twins second birthday. All the kids were running all over the place with cake smeared across their faces. They climbed ladders, slid down slides, played in the sand box, walked over the rope bridge, but not me. I made a bee line for the swings.

I have so many memories of being on swings when I was young. I remember moving my legs forward and back, forward and back to try and get as high as possible. Sometimes I got so high that the poles supporting the swing seemed to come out of the ground. A rush of fear would spread throughout my body for an instant as I thought, "What if I break the swing?" and then I'd let go and close my eyes, let the swing rock me back and forth and feel the wind blow my hair back and touch my cheeks and nose. There's something soothing about the rocking motion of a swing. I'm sure it comes from the time when I was a baby and was soothed in this fashion by my parents. Once the swing would start to slow down, I'd jump out onto the sawdust.

Yesterday, when I arrived at my parent's lake house in Washington, I didn't hesitate to go for a swim. I didn't care if the water was warm or cold. I was going in. I don't think my family believed me and followed me down to the dock. I walked down the ladder and found the water to be surprisingly warm. Once in the water, I tread water and blew bubbles with my lips just like when I was a kid.


I also ventured off on my own around the lake. I walked slowly looking at all the houses and trees along the way. I heard young girls scream on a inner tube out on the lake. I caught a glimpse of them high up on the road through the trees. Their laughter was contagious and I couldn't help but laugh myself at the good time they seemed to be having. While walking I felt so happy and free I decided to take my self portrait. I wanted to remember my feeling.



Today my sister and her kids arrived for my father's birthday party. I was sorry I couldn't stay longer, but I needed to make it back to Seattle. They made chocolate cupcakes with different sprinkles on them. My dad got the one with dinosaurs because, well, I guess he's getting up there in age, but he is still young at heart. He was very pleased, however, that his cupcake only had one candle. He said, "Wow, look, I'm one!" and then blew it out.


My cupcake had stars on it. I licked the frosting and ate the whole thing in about four bites. After our cupcake eating session, I sat for a little while longer with my sister and family outside on the deck and we told stories about when we were young. We have so many.

It's always great to reminisce, but instead of just remembering all the fun times I had when I was a kid, I try to keep that part of me alive. I want to keep the flame burning. There's an innocence to the way children are. Often times I feel it's a shame that the child in us gets bottled up once we become adults. There's a tendency to become reserved and fearful of doing anything that might embarrass us. When I let my inner child out, I find my spark for life. It keeps things exciting, spontaneous and fun!

Do you let your inner child come out to play? Have you don't anything spontaneous and fun recently?

365 Inspirations—191: Summer Weather

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."—John Lubbock 

 Summer is the best season in Washington State. It's not too hot and it's not too cold. For the last couple of weeks we've had very little rain and it's been between 70-80 degrees everyday. For Seattlelites, seeing that shiny, yellow thing in the sky for days on end is really a treat that we may now be taking for granted.

Washington State tends to have a lot of rain in other months, so we really need to make good use of our summers. Our state has beautiful mountains and hiking trails everywhere. We've got the Olympic Mountains on one side and the Cascade Mountains on the other. On a beautiful day, the view is spectacular.

I try and get a walk in or sit out in the sun a little bit everyday! Gardening is another great pastime in the summer.

Today I went to yoga class again. I'm trying to get in the habit of going regularly. But today, after I type this post, I'm going to get ready or class and sit in my garden and do some lesson planning. I teach ESL on Mondays and Wednesdays in the summer, so today is my Friday! I chose to only teach two days a week in the evenings in the summer because I want to enjoy the days and the weather outside!

How's the summer in your part of the world? Is it the best season where you live?